We departed at 6.45am on the morning of Saturday 28th May 2005.  We headed down the M6 and M54 towards Shrewsbury, breaking for breakfast in a truck stop facility.  It was then down the A49, with a stop in the gear shop in Church Stretton for a new waterproof for me - I had left my walking jacket in the Cat & Fiddle after SP-004 the previous weekend, and decided to use an extra fleece and a new waterproof for a cheap solution until retrieving my usual coat.

We were soon passing through Craven Arms, where a decision was taken to grab View Edge G/WB-018.  We parked at the top of the road between the farm and the corn field with public footpath.  We followed this path, which actually takes one AWAY from the summit, which is on private land on the other side of the road, behind the farm.  We set up at the next fence, only a few metres lower than the summit true, and made the contacts.  No takers from the CQ calls, so I opened up by gate-crashing the one exisitng QSO I could hear, after which two Midlands stations came in for me, including Jim 2E0CHO in Dudley, who was to become a regular over these few days.

Thanks to the following stations, all worked on 2m FM with 5 watts:

We arrived in Hay-on-Wye, and DISASTER - the Hay Festival was in full swing.   The town centre was heaving with cars and pedestrians, every pub and cafe was full to bursting, prices of all main courses were £9.95 or higher and there was a quarter-mile queue for the chippy.  (Though exactly why festival-goers need the services of a carpenter is beyond me).  Camp sites were full, and worst of all, EVERYONE asked us if we were here for the festival.  We were most certainly not.  In fact it was an utter nuisance.

However, we did manage to secure the last remaining pitch in a camp site just above Clyro on the A438 Hereford to Brecon road.  It was really a caravan pitch, and was very stony, but we took it and realised we had been wise to invest in an extra four bags of tent pegs before setting off.